Tag Archives: stylus & pens

Image from Samsung's save the date for the October 24 kick-off to their Galaxy Note II world tour

Wait Samsung, don't tell us. You may have revealed the last "next big thing" back in October, but is the "next next big thing" a larger Galaxy Note device? According to the rumor mill of late, the answer is yes.

Within the same week that Samsung boasted of selling 3 million Galaxy Note II devices, a new DLNA certification (first reported on by SamMobile) shows that the company may already have some successors in the works.

The certification lists two new Samsung-made devices – GT-N5100 and the GT-N5110 – that SamMobile says are sized between 7 and 9 inches. And if you're in doubt as to the fact that the devices listed will in fact be Galaxy Note variants, AndroidGuy points out that the certifications for all “previous Note products start with GT-N.”

If there's any truth to SamMobile's report, it may be that Samsung is looking to fill the gap between their 5.5-inch and 10.1-inch Note models.

As, for why Samsung would want to release a 7-inch Galaxy Note when they've already got the 7.7-inch Galaxy Tab, it may just be that the company sees the Note line, with its stylus pens, as distinct from the rest of their mobile devices.

"Samsung clearly sees this market as separate from its mainstream phone line," writes Mobile Syrup, "and the two won’t necessarily cannibalize sales from either one."

In addition to the rumors of an upcoming Galaxy S III Mini event in Germany (which we reported on last week), Samsung has confirmed an October 24 event in New York City as the first US stop on the Galaxy Note II's World Tour.

This Samsung "Save the Date" teased with a pic of a stylus but no mention of the Galaxy Note II

Late last month, Samsung was already teasing the affair, with a "Save the Date" card showing a stylus pen and the tagline "The Next Big Thing Is Here." However, the next generation Galaxy Note "phablet" was never shown. But the official invitations, which started rolling out yesterday, do show and name the device, removing all previous doubts.

The official press invite confirms the Galaxy Note II as the focus of the October 24 event in New York

Still, this is likely to be the beginning rather than the end of all speculation about the new combination phone and tablet. It doesn't mark the release of the new Galaxy Note II, and it won't be the first time the device has been seen.

So what can we expect to learn about the latest smartphone in Samsung's Galaxy lineup?

Well, for one, we may finally get some sort of confirmation on the Galaxy Note II's American release date. And hopefully, Samsung will be giving us some notion of its price, too.

The debate rages on over Apple’s insistence that its mobile and desktop platforms remain closed. The Electronic Frontier Foundation published a report calling for Apple to adopt a more open model for its iOS and OS X.

EFF calls Apple’s platforms “beautiful crystal prisons,” because they impose unnecessary limitations on its devices. EFF’s position is that Apple is hurting users by shutting out developers in the open source community. It should mimic Android’s open source model as this is part of the reason for its widespread use by so many device manufacturers.

On the other side of the argument are those who point out that Apple’s closed model is not just a benefit but one of the most important features of its mobile and desktop devices.

Eric Testorff, a Technology Coordinator in Crossville, Tennessee, points out the benefits of a closed system in the education environment. His position: “Thank God Apple is the way it is, especially with so many schools purchasing iPads. It is good that it is so difficult for kids to download and install bad Apps. Not every school knows how to police that. At least Apple does some of the policing for us. With Androids, it’s like the Wild West.”

Apple’s App Store model as provides a level of security that is appealing to businesses as well. As an IT manager at a large privately held company said in a recent interview, “When we decided to dump BlackBerry last year, we ran trials with the iPhone and with Android phones. During the first week of trials alone, I had one guy crash his Samsung from installing a bunch of poorly made software. Then someone else rooted his phone and all of his stock apps stopped transmitting data. This was just the trial; imagine what would happen if we deployed these phones to more than 200 employees across the company.”

According to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) there’s a new standardized SIM format for mobile devices. The new “nano-SIM” cards are 60% of the size of the smallest SIM card- design currently on the market (the micro-SIM.) The nano-SIM will measure 12.3 millimeters wide by 8.8 millimeters high and 0.67 millimeters thick.

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Apple, Motorola, Samsung and BlackBerry, and others argued over the design of the proposed nano-SIM standard, but unconfirmed reports say Apple’s was the design ultimately chosen.

ETSI’s press release states, “The new form factor was adopted by industry with the involvement of major mobile network operators, smart card suppliers and mobile device manufacturers. The new design will be published in due course in ETSI’s TS 102 221 specification, freely available like all ETSI standards from the ETSI website.”

A SIM card is used to securely associate a mobile device with a customer account, preventing fraud and ensuring that calls are correctly routed to customers. It is an essential security feature of mobile networks, and is integrated into every GSM, UMTS and LTE device.

Amazon announced this week that its Appstore now allows Android users to "Test Drive" applications... and try out them before purchasing or downloading.

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Although Amazon has offered Test Drive for Web apps for more than a year, the reality of the marketplace is that most apps are downloaded to mobile devices. Being able to try mobile apps out before making a purchase will have a more meaningful effect on buyers.

In a post on its Appstore developers blog Amazon said, “Today we begin the beta rollout of Test Drive on Android phones. Now customers can instantly try apps on their phone — where a majority of app purchases take place — without downloading or installing anything.”

"The more we remove friction for customers who want to try apps, the more apps they will try. Those customers are more likely to find apps they are excited to download. In this way, Test Drive helps customers understand the value of premium apps and helps drive downloads of premium apps."

Test Drive has already been enabled for more than 16,000 Web apps, and is currently available on more than 5,000 apps for Android phones. Amazon promises that they’ve only just gotten started.

Friends of WikiLeaks (FoWL), an encrypted social network for like-minded individuals, has just been launched by backers of the whistle-blowing organization WikiLeaks.

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As described on the WikiLeak home page, “Friends of WikiLeaks is a network of people from across the globe who defend WikiLeaks, its people, its alleged sources and its mission. We publicly and privately promote WikiLeaks and individuals and organisations aligned with the mission of WikiLeaks. This site will help you to join with people like you in your area and across the world. You will make new friends and new allies, care for treasured values and fight in common cause.”

Through FoWL, WikiLeaks plans on having an active role in the creation of online friendships. Instead of having users find people to friend, FoWL will assign users 12 friends each - six from a similar geographic location and six others from other parts of the world who speak the same language.

If users join and are inactive, their fellow group members will be able to boot them out of the group and be automatically assigned a new “friend”.

According to a report released by Nielsen, this is the first time that more than half of all mobile customers in the U.S. own a smartphone. That's up a whopping 38% from a year ago.

With Android and iOS accounting for more than 80% of the U.S. market, smartphones are changing the way people use their handsets. Smartphone users are spending 39 minutes per day using their apps, up 10% from a year ago. The number of apps downloaded to Apple iPhone and Google Android devices grew 28% over the past year to an average of 41 apps per phone.

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A Google study also released Wednesday found that 26% of U.S. smartphone owners would rather give up their computer than their smartphone -- a sign that smartphones are truly becoming mini-PCs.

Despite the increase of apps, smartphone owners spend roughly the same amount of time using them each day: 37 minutes in 2011, compared to 39 minute in 2012.

Facebook, YouTube, Android market (now Google Play Store), Google Search and Gmail remain the top five most-used apps, according to Nielsen. That isn't particularly surprising, since all of those apps except for Facebook are pre-loaded onto most Android devices.

For all the sales records being set by some smartphone manufacturers, total worldwide sales dropped by 2% since the same time period last year. Only 419.1 million units sold in the Q1 2012 versus 427.8 million in Q1 2011. This is the first time since the second quarter of 2009 that the market has shown a decline.

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According to Gartner Inc., lack of new product launches and users delaying their upgrades in Asia/Pacific countries are the top reasons for the drop. The first quarter is usually the strongest quarter for Asia due to its Chinese New Year. There should be some recovery coming as users in Asia look for better smartphone deals to arrive later in the year.

Android accounted for more than half of all smartphone sales, with a 56.1% market share in the first quarter of 2012. Apple’s iOS has second place with an increase from 16.9% in 2011 to 22.9%.

Samsung became the world’s top mobile handset vendor during the quarter. It took the top spot from Nokia which had been No. 1 since 1998. Samsung’s mobile phone sales reached 86.6 million units, a 25.9% increase from last year. Samsung took back the world’s No. 1 smartphone position from Apple, selling 38 million smartphones worldwide. Samsung’s Android-based smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2012 represented more than 40 percent of Android-based smartphone sales worldwide; no other vendors achieved more than a 10 percent share of the market.

Ah, Nokia – you are fast becoming a breath of fresh air! Sure, dumping Symbian for Windows as a mobile OS was a little harsh, but who can’t see the vividly dramatic humor in that? So in this week of consumer tech euphoria, what did Nokia dish out? A little love to its prospective customers in the United States: the first Nokia cell phone, the Lumia 900 4G LTE which was designed specifically with the US in mind.

Let’s be honest – this is a striking phone. Not only does it have a 4.3 inch Clearblack AMOLED display, the polycarbonate shell (available in cyan and black) is indeed both “bold and beautiful.” As this device was designed with the States in mind and is sporting Nokia’s new mobile OS alliance, Windows, it is no surprise that this model will be exclusive to AT&T when it is released. Unfortunately for customers tied to other network carriers, this smartphone is not to be released unlocked. Let our trend setting fashionable cases and skin accessories express your unique style. Make your mobile devices stand out. Customize your look - how cool can you be?

The inner workings and benefits of the Windows OS (People Hub, Live tiles etc) will override some customer concerns about the exclusivity with AT&T. Sporting 4G speed, a long lasting 1830 mAh battery, a typical 16GB of storage (and for flexible storage options, supplementary memory cards are an option) and a 8MP camera, this device may well be the preference for AT&T customers considering the “aggressive pricing” we are being advise to anticipate when the Lumia 900 is made available later this year. Discover an extensive selection of the latest lithium technology replacement cell phone and wireless devices batteries. Ensure your device is powered by brand name batteries for longer operating life.

I will say that the mobile app to connect to AT&T’s U-Verse as a remote is pretty darn neat. As is the Nokia Drive app to give customers free GPS capabilities. For gamers, rock a great set of headphones or ear pieces and soak in some bragging rights. Nokia’s partnership with EA will bring over 20 of the most popular games to the Windows Phone marketplace. Of course, the Nokia Lumia devices will be the first to benefit from this liaison. Enhance your mobility and turn your device into a power tool! Discover select accessories such as; stylus & pens, micro SD memory cards, batteries, docking stations, Bluetooth headsets, data cables and glider gloves all specifically designed to make your devices functionally efficient and performance rich.

With a great start to 2012, Jeff Bradley, senior vice president of devices for AT&T surmised the year’s goals beautifully: “Together, we are working to supercharge the ecosystem around the Nokia Lumia 900 and the Windows Phone platform.”